WHO update: Five additional MERS cases reported from Saudi Arabia

Between 6 and 9 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 5 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.

Maureen Metcalfe; Azaibi Tamin/CDC

Details of the cases are as follows:

A 91-year-old male from Riyadh city who developed symptoms on 4 January and was admitted to hospital on 6 January. The patient has comorbidities. He has neither a history of direct contact with camels nor of consuming raw camel products but his sons have frequent contacts with camels. He has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition and remains in isolation.

A 32-year-old, non-national male from Taif city who developed symptoms on 28 December and was admitted to hospital on 7 January. The patient has comorbidities. Although he has no history of direct contact with camels, his job involves transporting dried camels’ excreta to be used as manure. The patient has no history of exposure to other known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in stable condition and remains in isolation.

An 80-year-old male from Riyadh city who developed symptoms on 4 January and was admitted to hospital on 6 January. The patient has comorbidities. He travelled to Jeddah in the 14 days prior to symptoms onset. The patient has no history of exposure to any of the known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms in either Jeddah or Riyadh. Currently, the patient is in ICU in critical condition.

A 53-year-old, non-national male from Riyadh city who presented to hospital with a history of cardiovascular disease and was admitted on 24 December. On 4 January, the patient tested positive for MERS-CoV. He regularly visited a health care facility not associated with previous MERS-CoV outbreaks. He had no history of exposure to any of the known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. The patient was admitted to ICU but passed away on 5 January.

A 61-year-old, non-national male from Riyadh city who developed symptoms on 2 January and was admitted to hospital on 3 January. The patient has comorbidities but no history of exposure to any of the known risk factors in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. Currently, the patient is in ICU in critical condition.

Cases are listed by date of reporting, with the most recent case listed first.

Contact tracing of household contacts and healthcare contacts is ongoing for these cases.

Since April 2012, cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been identified in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, Algeria, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Italy, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Tunisia, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey and the United States of America (USA).

The initial cases in France, Italy, Tunisia and the UK were linked to travel to the Middle East. Limited transmission in the countries of Europe and North Africa has occurred in close contacts of people who had travelled to the Middle East. All the European, North African, Southeast Asian, and North American cases have either visited the Middle East or been in contact with someone who had.

Coronaviruses are the cause of the common cold, but can also be the cause of more severe illnesses with flu-like symptoms, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), with some cases resulting in death. This new virus is not the SARS virus.

The symptoms of this MERS-CoV are similar to severe pneumonia: sudden and serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, and shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Since MERS-CoV was first identified serious illness and death have been seen in patients with underlying medical conditions and/or in older individuals. The illness has been milder in younger, healthy people.

As of January 20, 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 955 human cases, including 351 deaths. Additional cases of this new strain of coronavirus are expected.